2010 in a Nutshell

I’ve spent most of the day today lying around with my puppies. The pit bull in particular is the perfect little cuddler, she loves to lay under the covers just like me so we spent this entire morning huddled under the covers napping or with me thinking over the last year and everything that’s happened. This year was a BIG one! New Years Eve last year I was in Mississippi with my buddies preparing to go to Iraq, this year I will be hanging out with some of those same guys but at a party. This year saw a lot of things happening. I spent the first half of the year away from home in Iraq, while I was gone my daughter had a birthday, I had a birthday, and Nashville had a flood. This year is also the year of divorce, when my unit got back from Iraq there were several of us who for one reason or another lost our marriages, myself included. It’s been a very tough and trying year for everyone. In the midst of deployments and natural disasters lives were still moving forward. The flood didn’t automatically make a couple decide to stay together; it would be nice if it worked like the movies. The truth is that those stresses of things like being apart for months at a time or losing everything you have can strain a relationship to its breaking point. Every one of us has been through so much this year but looking on to next year I see big things as well. Like I said, last NYE I was getting ready to go to Iraq, this year I will be going to several countries and once again while I’m gone there will be a year’s worth of birthdays and other celebrations I will miss, but next year there will be no anniversary which at least saves me money on gifts. It’s hard to look back on a year like this one and pick out two or three events and say “there’s my year folks!” but in my case I think that about sums up the year. Sure I got some new rifles and a new truck, I shot a deer during hunting season, there’s been some other stuff in there but the deployment, while hard, was fun and at times rewarding. Hopefully next year will be an awesome year, it will be away from home again but it’s certainly got potential!